Preventing Tick-Borne Diseases

Preventing Tick-Borne Diseases

Prevention Tips

Avoiding areas where there are ticks in the absolute best way to avoid a tick-borne illness. If you decide to venture into tick infested areas, wear protective clothing and use chemical repellants.

Tips for Protection

DEET is the most effective, but also the most toxic. Individuals with any debilitating disease should avoid use of DEET. (Most pharmacies and outdoor stores now carry natural alternatives that are almost as effective as DEET and not nearly as toxic.)

Treat clothes (pants) with Permethrin several days before. Apply DEET to pant legs, apply Tick Tock to bare arms. (Permethrin is a synthetic form of natural pyrethrin that specifically targets the insect nervous system and has low toxicity to mammals.)

If you have been in an area where there are ticks, take a thorough shower as soon as possible and do a full body check for ticks.

Be extremely vigilant about ticks. When walking or hiking, whenever you brush by vegetation, stop and check for the possibility of a tick crawling up your legs or body. Put on reading glasses if you need to.

After graduating from medical school, Dr. Bill Rawls practiced conventional medicine for 15 years. However, when Lyme disease and fibromyalgia disrupted his career at age 45, he was forced into the world of herbal and alternative medicine. He has since restored his health—and has a passion to help others do the same.
Read his story »